New reporting challenge - finding the real story inside Cleveland's homicide numbers

I love my job, but at times it can get repetitive .. so I've been trying to broaden my horizons and push myself to bring my reporting to a different level.

Today .. my first web-exclusive story is on-line .. looking at the real reasons behind Cleveland's monster year for homicides.

In early January, national news organizations began looking at crime rates across the country for 2007 .. and Cleveland kept getting nailed for its 134 homicides. One article listed Cleveland as number two in the nation behind "Kill"adelphia for being killed. Even the PD's article pointed to the homicide basics -- crime, crime, drugs, crime -- as the factors for the rising rate.

Yet, nowhere could I find what these homicides looked and felt like .. and what the data really showed.

So I requested the demographic and crime info on all 134 homicides. It took several hours to input all of the data into a computer spreadsheet, but I got it done in a few days and began to analyze it.

Turns out, drugs weren't the number one factor (at least statistically) for these deaths. In fact, only 18 of the 134 were listed as "drug-related."

I also looked at the "solved" rate and found that nearly 60 percent of Cleveland's homicides had indeed been solved ... that's more than 10 points higher than the national average ... something the national media outlets weren't mentioning. (FYI: Akron detectives also had a good year when it came to solving homicides ... making arrests in 21 of 23 murders in 2007). Certainly, Cleveland's small homicide unit was working their butts off but not getting the proper credit.

Anyway .. I pushed hard to look beyond the numbers for ground-level stories .. and pushed my bosses at WKYC to let me take my analysis to the web .. and they agreed. So take a look if you like ... browse the data .. see what strikes you .. and give me some feedback.

Wednesday Web Chat

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Cutts jury is all Caucasion

A jury has now been selected in the murder trial of Bobby Cutts .. set to begin on Monday.

A courthouse spokesman tells me that of the six men and six women who were chosen, all are Caucasian. Six alternates were also chosen (3 men and 3 women) which included one African-American as an alternate.

I don't yet know if the defense will make the lack of minorities on the panel to be a legal issue at the last pre-trial set for Friday morning, but others in the community will certainly weigh it in the discussion.

In November, Myesha Ferrell was prepared to go to trial but accepted a plea bargain just as opening statements were to begin. Her jury was also a panel of 12 Caucasians.

Cutts, who is black, faces the death penalty if convicted in last year's murder of Jessie Marie Davis and her unborn child. Davis was white.

Will an all-white jury deciding a possible death penalty of a minority make a difference? Or after weeding through 800 potential jurors, is the racial makeup a non-issue? I'm interested to hear some differing views.

TV promo too much?

Our newsroom is trying to grade itself .. specifically, the approach we've taken to promoting Tom Meyer's investigative story that airs this Thursday at 11 on Channel 3 News.

Click here to view it. When you're done, I'd love some honest feedback.

I had no part in this whatsoever .. still, I'm weighing in like everyone else ... and I'll tell you that you can believe the hype on this one: Tom has done an excellent job with this horrific story and he'll have many people absolutely outraged. His report is that good, but it's also that upsetting.

Next week, I have a story that deals with a different-but-just-as-serious subject, and I wonder what's the best way to promote a story like that without going over the top or offending viewers.

Thanks in advance .. Eric

State of the Union challenge

So it's President Bush's last State of the Union Speech.

I always like to challenge people who think they can do my job to watch the SOTU and try to write the 45-second copy story for the 11 p.m. news.

Which soundbite do you choose?

The one where he champions all of our hard-working men and women in uniform to total applause? Or the one in which he challenges changes to health care and the Dems never move out of their seats?

Do you choose the soundbite where he announces tax rebates that champion the little people? or do you use the moments when he stumbles while telling Congress how displeased he is that the Dems are holding up war funding.

You got 45 seconds .. so go ahead and choose. You write the story.

Think our job is easy in the press? Go for it. The networks and cable shows will beat the speech like a drum, but for the evening news, your goal is to provide a quick synopsis.

No matter what soundbite you choose, someone will take offense. Someone will email or call and say that you missed the "real story you bleeding-heart liberal you-know-what!" or that you "let the President off too easy you right wing so-and-so!"

45 seconds.

Most of us can't even give good directions to our homes in that much time, but your mission -- should you choose to accept it -- is to write the story that covers the highlights of the most important speech the President usually makes in a year.

Heck, it took you longer than 45 seconds just to read this post.

Good luck .. may the words be with you ...

Eric

Cutts and Butts and Busses, Oh My!

Tonight's newscast includes back-to-back stories about Bobby Cutts and Christopher Butts. Cutts and Butts. Butts and Cutts. A broadcaster's rhyming buffet. The suspected mom/baby killer and the accused U of A rapist. And it doesn't help that their initials are reciprocals: BC and CB. It's doubtful the audience will pick up the rhyme .. but I'll feel it in the flow of the show.

A few months back, we sent one of our photographers to Winesburg, Waynesburg, and Wooster all in the same day. As we went from story to story on the air, I felt like Elmer Fudd as the "W" theme kept "wolling awong."

We've also had broadcasts where we've had a slew of animal stories ... maybe a dog attack at the top of the news .. and a little later, a car vs. deer story, and then maybe a lighter story going into weather about a cat being found inside a house wall .. and then the final story of the newscast, which is known as the "kicker", is about a man who raises monkeys in his home.

Of course, right after "Butts" tonight, we have "Busses" with the Revere vandalism story .. so there's another verbal connection.

Years ago, when I was just a cub reporter, anchor Judd Hambrick used to talk about "seamless" news .. the idea that there's a transition or segue between every story. Even if you're going from a murder story to the weather, the anchor must come up with a connection. Something like: "Well, hopefully Bob we won't have a killer storm this weekend ..."

It was one of those ideas that worked well on paper and was championed by consultants, but really never worked the way it should have.

Denny Ross II will be different trial altogether

I'm not a betting man .. but if I were, I'd bet the farm that the sequel to Denny Ross's murder trial won't resemble the first one much at all -- at least from the prosecution side.

While attorneys have spent seven years seeking a new trial, I'm told investigators have been quite busy too .. gathering additional evidence and conducting new tests not available at the time. Additionally, a special prosecutor is now involved ... so different attorneys will be there to present the evidence this time around.

The original trial judge, Jane Bond, has since retired. So there will be a change on the bench as well.

So barring a reversal by the U.S. Supreme Court, Ross will again be tried in the 1999 rape and murder of Hannah Hill. The 18-year-old from Kenmore disappeared in May of that year; her body was found a week later in the trunk of her car. Police picked up Ross, the last person to see her alive, and a subsequent search of his apartment turned up some of her clothes and his semen on her underwear.

I was in Ellet that morning when her car was found. I remember chatting off to the side with a police supervisor. I asked him if Hannah was in the car, and he just caught his breath and then sighed. He didn't have to say another word. We waited several hours to report that info until police told us that Hannah's family had been notified.

Three-ring circus

Seventeen months later, Ross stood trial dressed more like a schoolboy than a suspect .. and with a million-dollar defense team pulling the strings, jurors voted to acquit him of the most serious charge -- murder -- and were debating a lesser charge when the circus was turned upside down.

A juror reported that another juror had information on a lie detector test involving Hannah's former boyfriend, and that was enough for Judge Jane Bond to order a mistrial. Even though jurors had already signed forms acquitting Ross, they were never read in open court and therefor weren't official. It was the most bizarre ending to a trial that most reporters in this town had ever seen.

Double jeopardy rules prevented a re-trial until now. Our office worked hand-in-hand with Dateline NBC on a one-hour special called "Who Killed Hannah Hill?" which has been rebroadcast on MSNBC multiple times.

Family hopeful

I spoke to Hannah Hill's father tonight by phone. He's a gentle man who was nice enough to grant me a few minutes, and while he declined an interview, he did tell me how pleased the family was for the re-trial. Akron Police made sure that he knew about Friday's court ruling.

I'll never forget the first time we met the Hills. It was the day Denny was arrested. They took part in the press conference with police, making a brief statement about leaning on God and friends and family .. and thanking police for bringing Ross to justice. They were so quiet and so devastated that day. I can't imagine how difficult that was for them to sit in front of the TV cameras that day.

Second Victim

I spoke to a source tonight who mentioned that what's often forgotten is the 'second' victim .. a woman Ross met at a bar .. whom he beat and raped later that night. He's now doing 25 years for that attack -- a crime that couldn't have occurred, the source said, had Ross not been walking the streets after the first trial.

Still, there's a long way to go until this case is back in a local courtroom .. but when it is, look for a new twist to this already twisted tragedy.